PRESIDING JUSTICE PIERCE delivered the judgment of the court,
with opinion. Justices Neville and Hyman concurred in the
judgment and opinion.

OPINION

PIERCE, PRESIDING JUSTICE

¶
1 In this interlocutory appeal, Jamila Braggs, an Illinois
resident, challenges the circuit court's order denying
her motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Plaintiff sought leave of court to serve defendant by
alternative methods after his attempts to personally serve
her with an alias summons and complaint were unsuccessful.
Defendant argues that plaintiff did not demonstrate diligence
in attempting to serve her with a summons and complaint
either through personal or substitute service, and therefore
was not entitled to a special order of court allowing
alternative service. We agree. We therefore reverse the
circuit court's order granting plaintiff's motion for
alternative service, quash the service of process on
defendant, and remand for further proceedings.

¶
2 BACKGROUND

¶
3 On December 22, 2014, Keith Thompson filed a complaint
against Ross Dialysis-Englewood, LLC, Fresenius Medical Care
of Illinois, LLC, and Jamila Braggs. Thompson alleged that
Braggs, an employee or agent of Ross Dialysis, assaulted and
battered him while plaintiff was an invitee at Ross Dialysis.
On February 13, 2015, a summons was issued addressed to
Braggs at 14528 Des Plaines Street, Harvey, Illinois. The
sheriff's office of Cook County made three unsuccessful
attempts between March 1 and March 7 to serve Braggs at 14528
Des Plaines Street. The affidavit of non-service explained
that Braggs was not served because, "per the Forte
family, [defendant] unknown."

¶
4 On May 1, 2015, an alias summons was issued addressed to
Braggs at 14528 Des Plaines Street. On May 28, 2015,
plaintiff's special process server executed an affidavit
stating that he served Braggs with a copy of the summons and
complaint at 15722 Spaulding Avenue, Markham, Illinois on
"May 21, 2013, " [sic] at 9:13 p.m. The
process server's affidavit stated that the person served
with the summons and complaint "[r]efused to show ID,
" and was described as an African American female,
approximately 35 years old.[1]

¶
5 On September 9, 2015, Braggs filed a motion to quash the
"May 21, 2013, " [sic] service of process.
Attached to the motion to quash was Braggs's affidavit
executed on August 24, 2015. She averred that she currently
resided at 151 South Desplaines Street, Joliet, Illinois, and
she had lived there since September 2014. She stated that she
did not reside at 15722 Spaulding Avenue, had not resided at
that address since 2012, and was not present at that address
on May 21, 2015. Braggs further claimed that she had not been
served with any summons or complaint. Her affidavit was not
supported by any exhibits or corroborated by any evidence of
her address.

¶
6 On September 16, 2015, the circuit court entered a
handwritten order granting Braggs's motion to quash. The
order also granted Thompson leave to issue an alias summons
and appointed a special process server. On September 18,
2015, an alias summons was issued for "Jamilla Braggs,
"[2] with a listed address of "151
Desplaines St., Joliet, IL 60436." A case management
order entered on October 28, 2015, states that "[i]f
[Defendant] Braggs not served Plaintiff granted leave to
issue alias summons and appoint *** [a] special process
server."

¶
7 On December 17, 2015, Thompson filed a motion for leave to
issue a third alias summons and appoint a special process
server. The motion explained that his special process server
had changed addresses and was not able to timely serve the
second alias summons that had been previously issued. The
circuit court granted Thompson's motion on December 28,
2015, and the third alias summons was issued on January 8,
2016.

¶
8 On March 2, 2016, Thompson filed a motion for alterative
service pursuant to section 2-203.1 of the Code of Civil
Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-203.1 (West 2014)), claiming
that he had incurred "significant expense attempting to
locate and personally serve [Braggs], however [p]laintiff has
been unable to serve [Braggs]." Attached to the motion
was a skip trace performed on February 9, 2015, by Stewart
& Associates, Inc. that listed 18 possible addresses for
Braggs, one of which was 15722 Spaulding Avenue. Also
attached to the motion for alternative service was an
affidavit of non-service executed by Joseph Bell on February
12, 2016. Bell's affidavit stated that he attempted to
serve Braggs at 15722 Spaulding Avenue and that "[i]t
has been determined that subject does not live at address
listed on summons. The address on summons [sic] is
151 Desplaines St., Joliet, IL 60436." Bell detailed two
attempts to serve Braggs at 15722 Spaulding Avenue. On
January 19, 2016, at 8:43 a.m., Bell observed a grey Nissan
with Illinois license plates parked in the
driveway.[3] After he knocked on the door and announced
his presence, a female spoke through the door, asked him to
leave, and threatened to call the police. She refused to
provide her name or identification. On January 27, 2016, Bell
again observed the grey Nissan in the driveway. Without
opening the door, a female occupant insisted that Bell leave
or that she would call the police. She refused to provide her
name or identification, and she called the police. A Markham
police officer arrived, and Bell asked the officer to confirm
the women's identify. The officer refused to do so.

¶
9 On March 3, 2016, the circuit court granted Thompson's
motion for alternative service. The order granted Thompson
leave to attempt service by certified mail and posting on
Braggs's door. A fourth alias summons for Braggs was
issued on March 9, 2016, with a listed address of "151
Desplaines St., Joliet, IL 60436." Thompson sent the
summons and complaint via certified and regular mail to 151
Desplaines Street, and both letters were postmarked March 9,
2016. On April 2, 2016, Bell executed an affidavit for
service by publication and posting, in which he attested that
Braggs was concealed within the state.[4]

¶
10 On April 15, 2016, Braggs filed a motion to dismiss
pursuant to section 2-301 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-301 (West
2014)) for lack of personal jurisdiction. She argued that
Thompson failed to effectuate personal or substitute service
pursuant to section 2-203(a) of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-203(a)
(West 2014)), and that service by alternative method was not
available where Thompson did not demonstrate that personal or
substitute service was impractical. Furthermore, Braggs
argued that Thompson's motion for leave to obtain service
through alternative methods failed to demonstrate that
Thompson made a diligent inquiry into Braggs's
whereabouts or made a reasonable effort to achieve personal
or substitute service pursuant to section 2-203(a) of the
Code. Attached to Braggs's motion to dismiss was an
affidavit she executed on April 6, 2016, which states that
Braggs resided at 151 South Desplaines Street "and [had]
lived at this address since the date of my last [a]ffidavit
*** until the present date[, ]"[5] that she had not lived at
the Spaulding address since 2012, and that she was not
present at the Spaulding address on either January 19 or
January 27. She further claimed that on March 12, 2016, she
received mail at 151 South Desplaines Street from
Thompson's attorney's firm, and that on March 16,
2016, she received a summons and complaint taped to her door
at 151 South Desplaines.

¶
11 On April 22, 2016, the circuit court denied Braggs's
motion to dismiss "based upon plaintiff's prior
attempts at service and order granting alternative
service." Braggs filed a petition for leave to appeal
pursuant to Illinois ...

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